Exploring the role of mangroves in mitigating food system emissions: bridging global experiences and local action

Mangrove forests are one of the most impactful carbon-trapping ecosystems, they are effective at locking away vast amounts of "blue carbon" and the IPCC (IPCC, 2022) report encourages the protection of coastal vegetative ecosystems as part of integrated coastal resource management. Mangrove also strengthens resilience to climate change by reducing the impacts of sea level rise, saltwater intrusion, cyclones, and floods. Mangrove forests in Vietnam are currently under threat from expansion of shrimp aquaculture. However, their role in the food systems of coastal and island communities is often ignored. For instance, they provide woods for cooking, its fruits (from the keora trees) are collected and sold especially by women, and it also hosts a rich ecosystem including aquatic foods and acts as breeding and nursery ground for economically and nutritionally important fish species. Mangrove afforestation programs can, in that sense, be considered as Low Emission Food Systems technologies, including in MITIGATE+ target countries like Vietnam. This report reviews the literature on mangrove afforestation programs globally to identify the enablers and drivers of scaling. Specifically, the programs are characterized to identify the technologies and innovations in place, and the governance models and institutional drivers are assessed. Thus, the report is divided into four sections. The first section presents a global overview of mangrove plantations, their historical and present status, the drivers of mangrove deforestation globally and at country level. The second section reviews mangrove afforestation programs, the inception of these programs, their objectives and the governance and institutional models followed. The third section focuses on mangroves in Vietnam, it features some of the successful examples implemented in the country and analyses the supporting government policies. The last section is the conclusion which draws lessons on the factors required for successful mangrove restoration programs.